Erik Jones raced with a heavy heart in Saturday’s Menards 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race, grieving the loss of his father, Dave, who passed away Tuesday after a battle with cancer.
The younger Jones, who finished fourth at Michigan International Speedway, honored his father by removing his own name above the driver side door and replaced it with “Dave.”
Erik Jones also tweeted just before Saturday’s race a touching tribute to his late father.
To confirm - my father did pass away on Tuesday. Take it to the limit Papa Bear pic.twitter.com/IsCybrHWH4
— Erik Jones (@Erik_Jones) June 11, 2016
Here are some other tweets honoring the late Dave Jones:
Sad news as we begin today's race. @erik_jones' father passes away after battle with cancer: https://t.co/nLDe8nGJUZ pic.twitter.com/OUaEHaI74g
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 11, 2016
Erik Jones has so many years ahead of him during which he'll make his dad extremely proud. #NASCAR
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) June 11, 2016
Mr. Jones it was a honor to know you n u raised amazing children. We will all miss you RT @erik_jones: my father pic.twitter.com/c9CEm7UXU5
— Samantha Busch (@SamanthaBusch) June 11, 2016
.@erik_jones is going through a very difficult time - sending thoughts and prayers, saying it best "take it to the limit Papa Bear" #NASCAR
— 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 🏁 💻 ✍🏽🎙️ (@TheCathyBrown) June 11, 2016
Hard to not root for @erik_jones today https://t.co/vxoKuumV8Z
— Ryan Truex (@Ryan_Truex) June 11, 2016
Young @erik_jones is in the lead and his father is riding with him today. #RIP Dave Jones
— Rick Allen (@RickAllenracing) June 11, 2016
Thoughts & prayers to @erik_jones & the Jones family. We were blessed to get to know Dave and he will be sadly missed by everyone at KBM
— Kyle Busch Motorsports (@KBMteam) June 11, 2016
The green flag is out in Michigan.
— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) June 11, 2016
We're racing in memory of Erik's father Dave Jones today. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/4h8FdRtJ9J
Thoughts and prayers are with you and your family... 🙏🏻 https://t.co/JS5QZuDi4q
— DeLana Harvick (@DeLanaHarvick) June 11, 2016
Our heart felt condolences to @erik_jones and his family.
— Michigan International Speedway (@MISpeedway) June 11, 2016